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» Food Network Chef Jailed After Having Sex With 14-year-old Boy in a Best Buy Parking Lot

Food Network Chef Jailed After Having Sex With 14-year-old Boy in a Best Buy Parking Lot

A celebrity chef who owns Café du Soleil and appeared on a Food Network program called "Chef du Jour" was arrested last Thursday at his NYC apartment and charged with sexual exploitation of a minor and receipt and distribution of child pornography after it was revealed he had sex with an underage African-American boy in a Best Buy parking lot and boasted about sexual encounters with another boy.

The six-page complaint says [Matthew Tivy, 53,] met his 14-year-old victim on the popular hookup app Grindr. Tivy and the boy allegedly began exchanging messages on Dec. 28, 2014, and they met up in the Bronx on Dec. 30. Text messages show that Tivy parked on the top floor of a Best Buy parking garage in a black Honda at about 12:41 p.m., according to the complaint. He texted the boy an hour later, saying, "That was really fun!" "Even though you were very bad not to tell me how young you are haha but I don't mind ;p," another text message reads, according to the complaint. "I've been with a high school guy before so it's cool." Tivy also allegedly wrote. The victim presently attends a junior high school in the Bronx, according to the complaint. Prosecutors say he and Tivy exchanged more explicit text messages the next day, discussing having performed oral sex on each other. The victim sent Tivy two videos he shot of their encounter, according to the complaint. Prosecutors say "both videos depict the anal penetration of an African-American male by a Caucasian male." Tivy thought it bittersweet that the victim didn't send one video in particular he was looking for, the text messages show. "Probably a good idea since I'm sure it shows my face LOL," Tivy wrote, according to the complaint. A few days later, Tivy allegedly texted the boy about another rendezvous, saying he wanted to watch the boy have sex with Tivy's "bottom buddy." In the spring, Tivy allegedly bragged about his exploits on another social media platform called Kik. "I have one kid that I f*cked in my car," Tivy allegedly wrote another user, before transmitting the video files of the December encounter. "He's a high school sophomore." Prosecutors say Tivy has also used Kik to distribute images of "a known New Jersey-based minor victim, which depict his face and genitals." Tivy wrote about having had oral sex with the boy when he was 14, according to the complaint. The complaint also describes Tivy's explicit chats with underage teens in Florida and Ohio. Prosecutors say Tivy had yet another social media account for an app called Chaturbate. Tivy's account name on Chaturbate was "iluvundies," according to the complaint. Prosecutors say the top charge against Tivy carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. The federal charges relate to evidence that investigators claim to have found on Tivy's cellphone, a Galaxy S5, after his May 6 arrest on a separate incident from March. State court records related to the May 6 arrest say Tivy is due in Manhattan Criminal Court on Nov. 23. The top charge against him in state court alleges a sex act with a victim younger than 17.

Magistrate Judge Henry Pitman ordered that Tivy be held without bail because he presents a “danger to the community.” Matthew, according to reports, has been dating opera tenor Keith Jameson, 47, for more than a decade. Before he started dating men (and raping boys) he was married to a woman in the early 1990s. His attorney told the Daily News his client is not guilty and attends regular therapy sessions. If found guilty of the charge of enticing a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct, he could face up to 30 years in prison. If found guilty of receipt and distribution of child pornography, he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.